Curiosity Rovers Boxwork Campaign Reaches New Heights on Mount Sharp

Curiosity Rovers Boxwork Campaign Reaches New Heights on Mount Sharp
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 25, 2025

Curiosity has made significant progress in its ongoing exploration of the intricate boxwork terrain along the slopes of Mount Sharp. The past several sols have brought the rover from the base of a steep ridge to a resting point within a nearby hollow, offering increasingly detailed views of these unique Martian formations. This marks a new phase in Curiosity's campaign to analyze the composition, structure, and origins of the ridged terrain.

Beginning on Sols 4602-4603, Curiosity successfully scaled an 11-meter incline to reach the top of a ridge that marks the gateway to the boxwork region. From this vantage point, the rover used Mastcam and ChemCam to capture mosaics of distant and nearby features, including the ridges dubbed "El Corral," "Chapare," and "Meson." A short 15-meter drive aimed to carry the rover closer to Meson Ridge for further inspection. Ground-level targets such as "Altamora" and "Nocarane" were also studied using ChemCam's LIBS laser, along with MAHLI and APXS instruments, to determine the composition and texture of the nodular bedrock.

During this time, environmental instruments REMS, RAD, and DAN continued their long-term monitoring campaigns. Atmospheric observations included a 360-degree dust devil survey and a suprahorizon cloud movie.

By Sols 4604-4606, Curiosity had reached the main exposure of boxwork structures. The rover team executed an ambitious three-sol plan to characterize this complex terrain from multiple angles. Initial observations with Navcam and Mastcam quantified dust opacity, while a large Mastcam mosaic detailed the resistant ridge beneath the rover. ChemCam focused on a vein target named "Vicuna," while contact science examined nodular bedrock targets "Totoral" and "Sillar" using MAHLI and APXS. These observations aimed to compare ridge-top chemistry with material in adjacent topographic lows.

The second sol included additional Mastcam imaging and a ChemCam LIBS observation atop the ridge, along with a ChemCam RMI mosaic targeting sedimentary structures in a distant boxwork feature. After a short 5-meter drive into a nearby hollow, Curiosity captured post-drive imaging to support targeting in the next plan.

Highlighting the weekend plan was an overnight atmospheric study. Curiosity conducted an APXS atmospheric observation while two instruments within SAM analyzed the chemical and isotopic makeup of Martian air. The third sol added a ChemCam passive sky observation, further contributing to an extensive dataset on atmospheric variation between night and day.

On Sols 4607-4608, science operations paused briefly to accommodate the energy-intensive use of the SAM instrument, which resulted in a "deep dip" in battery levels. SAM continued its atmospheric composition analysis, after which Curiosity used Navcam to search for cloud shadows on Mount Sharp and overhead drift patterns.

Following battery recovery, Sol 4608 featured a targeted science block. Navcam assessed Gale Crater's dust opacity, while Mastcam performed sunward dust measurements and acquired a 15-frame mosaic of the ridge dubbed "Cueva De Los Vencejos Y Murcielagos." Mastcam also documented Curiosity's wheel tracks to identify disturbed terrain.

ChemCam targeted a nodular rock called "Lake Titicaca" with its laser spectrograph, followed by a telescopic RMI mosaic of sediment layers on Mishe Mokwa butte. Mastcam wrapped up by imaging the laser-induced pits on "Lake Titicaca."

In the afternoon, Curiosity's robotic arm executed contact science on "La Tranquita" using MAHLI and APXS, with additional imaging of rock targets "Aqua Dulce" and "Paposo." The rover is now preparing for its next move within the boxwork terrain, with new high-resolution science data and atmospheric insights in hand.

Based on recent status reports by Deborah Padgett, Lauren Edgar, and Alex Innanen that can be followed here